Scioli to present teen suffrage vote to BA province Legislature

Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli is to present a bill in the next few days to lower the voting age to 16 to the provincial Legislature, in line with the initiative the Kirchnerite administration is pushing through Congress.

Provincial Cabinet Chief Alberto Pérez confirmed yesterday the governor’s plan, and said that “the reform we are carrying out has the main goal of supporting from the province the expansion of political rights and participation pursued by the national government.”

Scioli’s administration said that the governor defined the content of the bill to amend Law 5190 relating to the Electoral Code, during a meeting held with Pérez and Cabinet Under-Secretary Juan Pablo Álvarez Echagüe.

The bill also looks to allow citizens to vote with their new ID card, in order to bring the provincial legislation in line with the new regulations. The National Electorate Code already adopted this amendment via Law 26,744 in a bid to abolish the old ID booklet.

With this new measure all notes and stamps in the ID booklet would stop being used, and would be replaced by a printed record given to the voter.

Last Wednesday the Senate approved the bill allowing 16-17 year-olds to vote, sending the landmark legislation on to the Lower House.